Car



G.'E. THACKRAY.

CAR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1921. 1,401,533, ted D c-'27, 1921.

GEORGE E. THACKRAY, OF WESTMONT BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2'7, 1921..

Application filed August 15, 1921. Serial No. 492,337.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Gnoncn E. THACKRAY, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Westmont,county of C'ambria, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Cars; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My inventlon relates to a car adapted for use in and about coal andother mineral mines or in and around manufacturing plants or for use onwhat are known as industrial railways.

The car body is preferably formed of a plate or sheet of metal pressedinto form, the bottom and sides being integral and the ends formed offlanged sheets or plates secured to the other portions by bolting orrivetin to form an open top box-like structure.

T e main portion of the bottom of my car is flat in order to obtain thelargest capacity in a small compass. On account of the necessarycomparatively thin metal of'which the car body is composed, the bottomportion is not strong enough to resist the bufling stresses,particularly when such cars are handled in a long train, so that Istrengthen and stiffen the construction by pressing portions of thebottom downwardly in channel form and other portions upwardly in asimilar way forming shallow troughs of channel form, and then introducebetween these portions a longitudinally extending center sill made ofheavy and substantial timber, preferably oak or other good quality ofwood.

The center sill is preferably secured to the car bottom as thus arrangedby means of through bolts extending through the sill and portions of thecar bottom, and I may also provide reinforcing plates as may benecessary to further strengthen-and stiffen the construction whereneeded. 1

In addition to the wooden center sill thus introduced into the metal carbody I may also use a continuous draw bar attached thereto and extendingthroughout the length 7 of the car, the ends of same being bent upwardlyand spaced apart from the bumpers mounted on the ends of the woodencenter sill, which ends extend outwardly from the car body the ends ofthe continuous draw bar and .umpers being provided with registeringholes to receive the coupling pin, which secures the cars together inthe train. -.I may, however, omit the continuous draw bar and dependprincipally upon the action of the wooden center sill and'the car bodyto withstand the bufling and pulling stresses, and in such case I preferto make the buffer with integral projections above same adapted toreceive the coupling pin as described and illustrated.

On account of the necessarily small thickness of the metal is not bestadapted to withstand the excessive bufling stresses or pulling stresses,but is primarily designed as a container for the lading. Theintroduction therein ofthe heavy wooden center sill makes the structurevery plate or sheet, the car body well adapted to withstand the buflingstresses and pulling stresses on account of the large,

area of the wooden sill, which reduces the unit stresses therein, besidewhich wood has a certain amount of elasticity, but the modulus ofelasticity is much'lower than steel and it also has certain shockabsorbing qualities and the reaction after a shock is not so energeticas that of steel, so that the wooden sill is very effective and usefulin such cases.

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, inorder to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet ofdrawings, which. forms part of this specification, and in which likecharacters refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved car; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the car with the left hand portion shown in verticalsectional elevation on the longitudinal transverse sectional elevationtaken on the line III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan viewillustrating a modified form of buffer block, and Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section taken on the line V-V of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the characters of reference on the. drawings: 1 is acar body in general, which is formed of pressed plate or sheet metal; 2are the sides thereof and 3 is the bottom; the bottom portions 4 arepressed upwardly therefrom and are integral therewith, this being'ofU-shape or channel form, and similar downwardly extending portions 5 arealso provided. Between these portions 4 and 5 and at the longitudinalcenter of the car, I introduce a heavy, strong wooden center sill 6,secured to the adjacent portions bythrough bolts as illustrated, theends of said center sill extending outwardly from the car body asillustrated in order to receive the buffers 17 mounted on the endsthereof. A reinforcing plate 7 is secured to the central side portions,of the car bottom adjacent to the bearings for the axles, and similarreinforcements 8 may be secured to the bottom of the car, and throughthese, the car bottom and the flanges of the car journals-the bolts 9pass and firmly secure the axle bearings to the car bottom. Thesereinforcing plates add strength and stiffness to the car and maintainthe axles in proper parallelism thereon. Above .the center sill andsecured to the adjacent portions I may provide a continuous draw bar 10,the intermediate ortions of which are secured by means of t e bolts 11,and this draw bar has bent-up end portions 12 secured tothe adjacentparts by means of the bolts 13. The car ends are 14 as illustrated,riveted or bolted to the ends of the car body by means of their flangesand this adds strength and stiflness to the construction. The type ofcar with fixed ends of this kind is best adapted forunloading in arotary car dump or by shoveling as heretofore customary. On the outerends of the center sill l[ mount bufler blocks 17 which are secured attheir central portions by means of the bolts 13 and are further providedwith laterally extending cars 15,

which are secured to the other partsb means of the bolts 16. The bufferblocks 1 are each provided with a striking or bufling face 18, abottom-flange 19 and a top flange 20, adapted to rest against the centersill 6. The ends of the draw bars 10 are Provided with holes 21 whichare adapted to register with the corresponding holes 22 through thebuffer blocks and center sill to receive the coupling pin 23, and thebuffer block is provided with an upwardly extending projection 24:,adapted to serve as a spacer between the end 12 of the draw'bar and theupper flange of the bufler block, thereby providing space for thecoupling link as illustrated.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 and 5 This illustrates a modifiedform of buffer block 25 in which the coupling portion is integraltherewith, this being preferably formed of a steel casing; this buffingblock has a bufling face 26, a bottom flange 27, a top flange 28, aclevis member 29 spaced apart from the other parts in order to providespace between the same for the reception of the coupling link; 30 is ahole through the clevis member; 31 is. a hole through the flange of thebufling block, which hole also extends through the wooden center sill 6.The bolt 33 is adapted to pass through theinner ends 34 of the buflerand through the continuous draw bar 10 and other adjacent parts,including the wooden center sill 6 and through the laterally ex tendingtie bar 35, which is below the car floor and serves to strengthen andstiffen this portion. 36 are bolts which pass through the buffer memberand the adjacent portions in order to secure the parts together firmly,and 32 is the hole in the end of the draw bar.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerabledetail, ll do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific detailsthereof as shown and described, but may use such modifications in,substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as areembraced within thescope of my inventlon or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my inventlon, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: I

1. A metal car body, portions of the bottom of which are presseddownwardly and others upwardly' to form shallow troughs and a woodencenter sill inserted therebetween and secured thereto.

2. A metal plate car body, the central longitudinally extending portionof whlch has portions pressed upwardly and other portions presseddownwardly, forming open troughs integral with the bottom, and asubstantial wooden center sill mounted in sa1d troughs and secured tothe car body.

3. A metal plate car body having a flat Bottom, the central longitudinalportion of "which has integral upwardly extending parts near the endsand at intermediate points and integral downwardly extending portionsbetween the same, all of the form of shallow troughs, and a substantialwooden center sill inserted within said troughs and secured to the carbody.

4. A metal plate car body, the central longitudinally extending portionof which is provided with a plurality of upwardly pressed portions and aplurality of downwardly pressed portions in the shape of shallowtroughs, a wooden center sill inserted within said troughs and extendingoutwardly from said body and secured to the same.

5. A metal plate car body, the central longitudinally extending portionof which is provided with a plurality of upwardly pressed portions and aplurality of downwardly pressed portions in the shape of shallowtroughs, a wooden center sill inserted within said troughs and extendingoutwardly from said body and secured thereto, and bumpers and couplingmeans mounted on the ends of said sill.

6. A metal car body, the central longitudinal portion of whichv isprovided with a plurality of integral downwardly pressed portions and aplurality of integral upwardly pressed portions, each of trough orchannel form, a wooden center sill inserted within said troughsandextending outwardly from the car ends, a continuous draw bar mountedon and above said upwardly pressed portions and said sill and providedwith upwardly extending coupling portions at its ends, in combinationwith bumpers secured to the ends of said sill and means for securing theparts together.

7. A metal car body provided with a substantially flat bottom, integralsides extending substantially vertical therefrom, the upper portions ofthe sides flaring outwardly, the central longitudinal portions of said awooden center sill inserted within said troughs, a continuous draw barmounted thereon, the ends of said sill extending outwardly from said carbody and provided with bumpers cooperating with said draw bar to formcoupling and buffing means;

In witness whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

GEORGE E. THACKRAY.

